JPH10149081A - Copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air cooled exhaust method for a copying machine which designs whole air flow considering arrangement of inside units and deodorizes the inside with a few fans and low noise and without ozone exhaustion. SOLUTION: Solid lines show frames of a housing, dotted lines show internal structure of it, 1 shows a front cover, numeral 2 is a back cover, numeral 3 is a partition plate, numeral 4 is flow of air, numeral 5 is an air supplying fan, and numeral 6 is an exhaust cross flow fan. The back cover 2 and the partition plate 3 form exhaust ducts, air 4 flows from the bottom of the front cover 1 through periphery of each units and a back exhaust duct, and the air is moved to lower part of the duct and floor by the exhaust fan.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air-cooling supply / exhaust mechanism of an electrophotographic laser printer or a copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine), and more particularly, to a copying machine which is forcibly cooled by air. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an electrophotographic copying machine or printer contains various units for forming an image in an apparatus housing. These units generate heat and ozone as they operate, which hinders image quality during continuous operation or the like. Therefore, cooling is required to keep the inside temperature of the machine optimal.

[0003] As a well-known document concerning the air cooling method of the device,
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Sho 63-10880 (cooling using a housing as one flow path), Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-10495 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 1-157492 (fans And cooling the heat generating substrate) are known. The inventions described in these known documents are effective for an air cooling method in an information processing apparatus such as a computer. Since the operation process becomes large, it does not work effectively even when applied to a copying machine.

That is, in the case of a copying machine, a light source such as a halogen lamp called a scanner is used for an optical unit in order to optically read an original, and the amount of generated heat is extremely large. Furthermore, in order to fuse the toner to the copy paper, a fixing unit that always maintains a high temperature of 70 ° C. is required, and a device that efficiently discharges the heat and does not affect the surrounding units thermally is required. Is done. In addition to this, such as a power supply unit and a developing unit that require exhaust heat, and a photoreceptor unit that requires ozone to stay and exhaust.
Since there are various units with different functions, a rational air cooling method is required.

[0005]

In the conventional copying machine, a fan is mounted on the back or side of the housing for each unit described above.
In the case where the number is seven or more, about ten are provided and exhaust and exhaust heat are individually performed. As a result, the flow from the fan interferes inside the machine and air cooling cannot be performed as expected, or the fan is attached but the flow path is not secured, and it is not possible to efficiently cool high temperature places I was Furthermore, since a large number of fans are operated at the same time, noise is high, and it cannot be said that it is preferable from the viewpoint of working environment and energy saving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention is designed to design the air flow as a whole in consideration of the arrangement of the in-machine units in the air-cooling method of a copying machine, and to use a small fan, low noise and deodorization without ozone emission. An object of the present invention is to provide an air-cooled exhaust method of a copying machine in which functions are taken into consideration.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a copying machine in which various unit devices are contained in a housing, wherein an air supply port and an air supply fan for taking in air are provided below a front cover of the copying machine. Having a hollow exhaust duct formed by providing a partition plate inside the back cover, and having an exhaust fan below the exhaust duct, wherein the air flow rate of the exhaust fan is larger than that of the air supply fan. Therefore, in order to efficiently cool each unit in the copying machine, a fan and its air supply port are provided on the bottom plate located under the front cover of the copying machine housing, and from below along the front cover. The structure is such that air can be blown upward by a fan, and air flows from the front inside the machine to the air exhaust duct of the back cover and the partition plate through the periphery of the unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the front cover is integrally provided with a partition plate for blowing an air supply fan, thereby effectively cooling the unit having a large temperature rise. For this reason, a partition plate is provided on the front cover to form a flow path, and the airflow is increased.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or the second aspect of the present invention, the partition plate inside the back cover has an opening required for air-cooling exhaust of each unit, and the opening is used for power consumption of each unit. The partition plate is provided with an opening having a size that allows for the size of the unit, so that the flow of air blown from the front is not dissipated, and the exhaust duct is provided. To form a flow path for exhausting to the outside of the machine with a fan below the exhaust duct, and to guide the air from the air supply fan to the exhaust duct without stagnating in the machine, a partition wall at a position corresponding to the rear end of the unit. An opening is provided in the plate, a partition plate is provided on the back cover, and a dual structure is secured to ensure a flow path, air is flowed from the front, each unit is air-cooled and flows to the back, and the amount of heat generated Units with low temperature Enigmatic unit is obtained by the contrivance to expand the opening area in order to increase the air volume.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shutter for adjusting the air volume covering the opening, and a knob for adjusting the shutter to adjust the width of the opening of the opening. Characterized by having on the cover,
In addition to increasing the opening area, the air volume is adjusted while observing the operation status of the product in consideration of the temperature rise of the entire device, so that the temperature of the unit can be appropriately maintained.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 3, the outer edge of the opening of the partition plate inside the back cover has a shape that forms a trumpet shape toward the in-machine unit. Therefore, by devising the flow continuously and narrowing the flow direction and avoiding the shape that hinders the flow, the flow velocity and air volume can be increased to increase the air cooling effect. (In the opening of the partition plate, the flow passing therethrough receives hydrodynamic pressure loss or generates vortices, which impairs the smooth flow.)

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the sheet-like wall material according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the inner wall of a hollow exhaust duct having a partition plate provided inside the back cover is filled with a deodorant. In this way, air containing ozone and the like that has passed through the unit is removed using a deodorizing material such as activated carbon, and the air is exhausted outside the machine (conventionally, before and after the fan). Although a filter for deodorization was provided, there was a drawback that the pressure loss was large and the air volume was reduced, and the loss of the fan was large.)

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of an entire copying machine according to the present invention. A portion shown by a solid line shows an outer frame of a housing, and a portion shown by a dotted line shows an internal structure. Show,
In the figure, 1 is a front cover, 2 is a rear cover, 3 is a partition plate (an exhaust duct is formed by the rear cover 2 and the partition plate 3), 4 (arrow) is an air flow, 5 is an air supply fan, and 6 is an air supply fan. It is a cross flow fan (liner length 300 mm) for exhaust. In this embodiment, three propeller fans are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and a cross flow fan can be used.

With the above configuration, the air flow 4 passes from below the front cover 1 around each unit, passes through the rear exhaust duct, and flows downward and toward the floor by the exhaust fan 6. At that time, the input voltage of the supply fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 is appropriately controlled so that the air volume can be varied, and the air volume of the exhaust fan is made larger than the air volume of the air supply fan, so that the air flow is smooth. I do.

(Invention of claim 2) The invention of claim 2 is shown as a partition plate 8 in FIG. 1, and the shape and arrangement of the partition plate 8 are not limited to the illustrated example. If the arrangement is different, it can be attached to the front cover in a manner appropriate for the amount of heat generation and temperature reduction. In the illustrated example, two partition plates are provided, and the flow path is divided into three. In FIG. 1, the left flow path is provided for cooling the fixing unit and the power supply unit, which generate a large amount of heat, and the partition plates are arranged as shown in the figure. However, the arrangement method is not limited to the illustrated example. Absent. The central flow path is provided for exhausting heat and ozone of the photoconductor, development, and optical unit. The right channel is a partition plate for mainly cooling the optical unit by air.

(Invention of Claim 3) In the invention of Claim 3, the size of the opening 7 provided in the partition plate 3 is as follows.
It is appropriate to decide according to the necessity of air cooling of the unit. In the embodiment, the opening area is 150 for the fixing unit.
mm × 150mm, power supply unit is 100mm × 100
mm, photoreceptor and developing unit
0mm x 100mm, optical unit is 100mm x 15
An opening of 0 mm was provided.

(Invention of claim 4) The invention of claim 4 is provided with a shutter mechanism 9 for controlling the area of the opening 7 of the above-mentioned claim 3 more precisely. The shutter 9 does not need to close all the openings, and at most 50
It is sufficient to cover the area of about%. The shutter 9
A knob can be attached and the degree of opening and closing can be adjusted by rotating the knob.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the entire structure of the shutter 9, wherein 9a is a shutter portion, 9b is a knob, 9c is a handle, and a rotary handle 9c at the tip of the knob 9b is located on the rear cover 2; It can be operated without opening.

(Invention of Claim 5) FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of the outer edge of the opening according to the invention of claim 5 (FIG. 3 (A) is a perspective view, and FIG. 3 (B) is FIG. (A) BB line sectional view)
The trumpet-shaped expansion portion is provided on the upstream side of the flow as shown in the figure. When forming the opening 7 in the partition plate 3, the metal in the processed portion was bent to form a shape as shown in the figure. Not limited to this example,
A trumpet-shaped expansion part may be separately formed, welded, and assembled.

(Invention of claim 6) In the invention of claim 6, as shown in the deodorizing material sheet 10 containing activated carbon in FIG. 1, a deodorizing material mixed with activated carbon is attached to the inner wall of the exhaust duct.

[0021]

According to the present invention, since the air supply fan and the exhaust fan are installed on the front and back surfaces of the copier housing and the cover is used in advance, the heat generation is determined from the results of the performance test on the actual machine after the unit is arranged. The temperature of the unit can be reduced, eliminating the need for re-installing the fan or installing a new one.In addition, since the position and size of the partition plate and opening can be determined after the unit is placed, product reliability improves and other models It can also be applied to applications, leading to cost reductions by using common parts.

Conventionally, an air supply and exhaust fan is installed in the space around the unit for each unit, which hinders the miniaturization of the equipment. In some cases, the temperature did not drop, causing a problem in the reliability of the device. By utilizing the dead space of the device and concentrating the supply and exhaust as in the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the installation cost and the number of fans. Further, by increasing the air volume of the exhaust fan, it is possible to prevent the flow in the machine from staying, and to effectively generate an air flow around the unit to be air-cooled, thereby stabilizing the copy quality at all times. Also, since the outlet of the exhaust fan is on the lower floor,
There is no hot exhaust around the equipment, leading to an improved office environment.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the partition plate is provided to efficiently guide the flow of the air supply fan inside the front cover to the unit. This reduces the input voltage of the air supply fan by about 40%. Nevertheless, the air cooling effect did not change compared to the case without it, which was useful for energy saving and also effective for noise reduction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the exhaust hot air cooled by the air supply fan is guided to the rear cover composed of the exhaust duct and the fan without escaping into the machine. As indispensable. In addition, by changing the opening area in accordance with the magnitude of the amount of heat generated, the units can be air-cooled in the same manner, eliminating the complexity of changing the size of the fan unlike the conventional case, which is effective in reducing the cost of the product. .

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to precisely control the air cooling efficiency of each unit, and to perform finer heat control by adjusting the air volume at the time of product shipment or at the time of maintenance service. This was effective in improving copy quality and copy quality.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the eddy current is expanded by enlarging the outer edge of the opening in order to quickly guide the flow of air that carries away heat of the unit to the exhaust duct without stagnation at the joint of the flow path. And the pressure loss was also reduced, and the exhaust efficiency was improved.

According to the invention of claim 6, ozone generation due to corona discharge in the photoreceptor unit and the smell of oil in the fixing unit can be deodorized. In the conventional example in which a deodorant is provided as a filter in front or behind the fan, there is a drawback that the pressure loss is large and the air cooling effect is reduced, but in the present invention, the odor is removed by the deodorant on the inner wall.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an entire copying machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a shutter mechanism diagram according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view of an outer edge of an opening according to a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Front cover, 2 ... Back cover, 3 ... Partition plate, 4 ... Air flow, 5 ... Air supply fan, 6 ... Exhaust fan, 7 ... Opening of partition plate, 8 ... Front cover partition plate, 9 ... Shutter ,
10 ... Deodorant sheet containing activated carbon.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A copying machine in which various unit devices are included in a housing, wherein an air supply port and an air supply fan for taking in air are provided below a front cover of the copying machine, and a partition plate is provided inside a rear cover. A copying machine comprising: a hollow exhaust duct formed; and an exhaust fan below the exhaust duct, wherein an air flow rate of the exhaust fan is larger than an air flow rate of the air supply fan. 2. The copying machine according to claim 1, wherein the front cover has a partition plate for blowing air from an air supply fan. 3. The partition plate inside the back cover has an opening required for air cooling and exhaust of each unit, and the opening has an opening area corresponding to power consumption of each unit. Item 3. The copying machine according to item 1 or 2. 4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, further comprising a shutter for adjusting the amount of air that covers the opening, and a knob on the rear cover that adjusts the shutter to adjust the width of the opening of the opening. The copier according to the above. 5. The copying machine according to claim 3, wherein the outer edge of the opening of the partition plate inside the back cover has a shape that forms a trumpet-like expansion toward the in-machine unit. 6. A sheet-like wall material filled with a deodorant is provided on an inner wall of a hollow exhaust duct having a partition plate provided inside the back cover. The copier described.